They Can Have Their Fancy Stuff
by Lady Puffazee
Summary: This is only my second story, so no harsh flames please. A Hermione/Severus paring so if you don't like that, please don't read this. I've rated this due to kissing, and I want to be safe. Please read and review! Hermione has been under stress from a number of influences for weeks now but when Ginny pushes her over the edge, Will Hermione break down completely? First of a series.


**Author Note: I just wanted to update this because I've noticed a lot of mistakes and I apologise for that. I'd also like to say that I've almost finished a sequel to this story. If you've taken the time to read this author note then thanks :) Happy reading!**

_They Can Have Their Fancy Stuff_

"Hermione, please listen!"

I roll my eyes and continue walking, ignoring the hurried clicking of Ginny's heels on the tiles of the Ministry floor behind me. I'm being quite nasty, I'll admit to that. Ginny is six months pregnant with her and Harry's second child so she has as much chance of catching up with me as Bellatrix Lestrange has of being declared mentally stable.

"Goodbye Ginny" I huff angrily as I reach the apparition point and turn on the spot. As I think of my apartment, the last thing I see is Ginny's out of breath form, her face matching her hair and my last thought before I felt the familiar sensation of being squished is that I really didn't care about her discomfort and I ensured that I showed it on my face before I left the Ministry of Magic with a pop.

"UUURRRRRGGGGHHHHHH!"

My scream ricocheted throughout the apartment and I just stood in the middle of my living room shaking with anger as I watched my windows rattle. I didn't have very long to be left with my rage however as someone began to knock rapidly on my door.

"Hermione! Hermione dear! Are you okay? I heard a scream" came the voice of my next door neighbour, Mrs Skylark.

Mrs Alice Skylark is an eighty-three year old widow that is sweeter than anything you could find at Honeydukes. Standing only at four foot seven inches, with electrifying blue eyes and grey hair, she looks like a stiff breeze could push her over but she can raise her left eyebrow like no one's business.

I sigh as I open the door, sure enough, to reveal Mrs Skylark. "I'm sorry for worrying you Mrs Skylark, I'm fine. I just had an argument with a friend of mine, at least I thought she was my friend" I confess to her.

She relaxes in obvious relief and her face softens in understanding. "Would you like to talk about it?" she asks in a motherly tone.

I nod, feeling like a child instead of the grown ass twenty-seven year old woman that I am. I step back and let the old lady in.

"Would you like some tea?" I offer, feeling mentally drained and physically exhausted.

"That would be nice dear" she replies. "Let me give you a hand with that."

I manage to fill the kettle and place it on the stove, but I can't focus enough to use my wand to make it boil. Suddenly, the stress of the day comes crashing down on me and I collapse on the floor in a sobbing heap.

Mrs Skylark rushes over and envelops me in her arms. I clutch onto her and she strokes my mass of curls with one hand and uses the other to point her own wand at the kettle, causing it to boil and whistle instantly.

"Come now dear" she says softly. "Is there anything I can do to ease those tears?"

In between sobs, I manage to blurt out 'wards' and she nods, understanding my request. Once she has helped me onto my couch, placed a cup of herbal tea in my hands and wraps a blanket around my shoulders, she casts several wards on my apartment while using both her wand and my own.

"Wwwhhyy aareee yyou uusinnggg bboothh?" I blubber.

"So that if any of your Ministry friends like Mr Potter come around, they'll know that your magic has a part on the wards and they won't go blowing this place to kingdom come" she replies easily as she make her own tea and sits next to me.

I nod miserably, I should have known that.

"Now" she says. "Drink up, take a few deep breaths and tell me what happened. I don't want to have to go and get a couple of vials of calming draught but I will, and let me tell you something sweetie, you will drink it if I am forced to get those vials."

I nod again, knowing full well that she would force those draughts down my neck if she decided to.

It's about five minutes before my sobs die down and only tears are left. The woman beside me pats my hand in approval, encouraging me to confess all.

"Well" I start, with a deep breath. "Here's the thing."

_Earlier_

I'm quietly sipping my coffee on a bench next to the fountain that resides inside the Ministry of Magic. It doesn't even take any effort to not look at the horrifying thing anymore, a skill that I'm quite proud of if I'm being honest. I'm waiting for Ginny to get here so that we can go and see Harry. Why I have to be there while Ginny attempts to convince Harry that the crib for the unborn baby must have a miniature dragon replica is beyond me, something about moral female support.

"I'm here!"

"Finally! Geez Ginny, did you forget where the Ministry of Magic is?" I exclaim.

As Ginny stops in front of me, she pulls a face that is supposed to make me feel bad.

"Keep that expression on your face, I dare you" I threaten, my voice void of any emotion and my face blank.

"Damn, Mione what's up with you?" she demands, her hands on her VERY large hips.

"I have better things to do than this" I say. "Why didn't you just put on something sexy and deny Harry sex until he agreed with you? You've done it before, we've all heard about that" I reply, crossing my arms.

Ginny just stands there with her mouth open. "That was one time!"

I just roll my eyes. "Can we get this over with?" I say as I start walking towards Harry's office.

"Whatever" she huffs.

I stop in my tracks, my shoulders stiff and my eyes blazing as I turn. Ginny, to her credit, takes a step back.

"Listen to me Ginevra Potter" I begin, my voice low and deadly. "You can get away with that kind of attitude with your mother, father, brothers and husband. However I am not any of those and if you want my help, you will cut it out and get on with your stupid request. Despite popular opinion, I do in fact have a life."

Ginny looks terrified, so do a few bystanders but they keep walking at my glare.

I give an 'after you' gesture and she scurries past me, quite a feat considering she's huge and usually waddles more often than not.

As we walk towards into an elevator, we're joined by none other than Professor Severus Snape, Hogwarts' very own potions master.

"Oh great" I hear Ginny mutter. This earns her a pinch on her arm. "OW!"

"Be nice" I hiss. "I'm already pissed at you."

Needless to say, she refuses to talk to me for the rest of the ride. Severus however, isn't as rude.

"Miss Granger" he says in greeting.

"Professor" I reply. "I trust that you're well?"

"I'm in good health and the dunderheads that I teach are reasonable enough thank you" he replies. "Yourself?"

Before I can answer, we arrive at the appropriate floor and Ginny proceeds to drag me out.

"Oi!" I exclaim as I wrench my wrist from her grasp. I go to turn and reply to Severus but the elevator has already gone. I turn back to Ginny, an outburst just itching to come out. "What is your deal?" I demand.

"Oh lay off, he's only the greasy git of the dungeons" she states as she sees Harry. "Harry!" she calls out.

I grumble every insulting thing I can think of as I watch Ginny bound over to my best friend.

"Well, you have everything under control here Ginny" I say sweetly, far too sweetly.

Ginny looks worried, Harry looks confused, I know I must look malicious.

"You're on your own Ginny, it would have taken mere seconds for me to answer Professor Snape but no, you have to go and be little miss bossy and drag me away before I can reply to his question. Not only was it rude to him but it was rude to me, and I thought you wanted my help. Goodbye Ginny" I finish. "Harry" I add on before walking away.

"Hermione, please listen!"

I roll my eyes and continue walking, ignoring the hurried clicking of Ginny's heels on the tiles of the Ministry floor behind me. I'm being quite nasty, I'll admit to that. Ginny is six months pregnant with her and Harry's second child so she has as much chance of catching up with me as Bellatrix Lestrange has of being declared mentally stable.

"Goodbye Ginny" I huff angrily as I reach the apparition point and turn on the spot. As I think of my apartment, the last thing I see is Ginny's out of breath form, her face matching her hair and my last thought before I felt the familiar sensation of being squished is that I really didn't care about her discomfort and I ensured that I showed it on my face before I left the Ministry of Magic with a pop.

_Present_

I drain my tea cup as I finish and Mrs Skylark instantly refills it.

"Well dear, to be honest it doesn't sound that bad. Yes a pregnant witch is irritating, I can vouch for that since I have five children myself" she says. "Now if you have romantic feelings for Professor Snape, then that is a different story altogether."

I whip my head around to stare at her like a deer in headlights. I gulp.

"You're in love with Professor Severus Snape aren't you Hermione?" she asks softly, her tiny hand holding mine.

I start to shake, fresh tears spilling from my eyes.

"Aren't you dear?" she asks again, her eyes soft but with a knowing gleam.

"Yes" I admit, placing my cup down and curling into a ball. "Yes, I'm in love with him." I link my fingers and start to rock backwards and forwards.

"Does he know?" she asks as she places an arm around my shoulders.

I shake my head no.

"What else sweetie? I know your tears are because of more than a hormonal witch who dragged you away from an opportunity from talking to the man you love" she tells me. It's easy to see how she was able to easily raise five daughters.

As my sobs start up once again, I tell of how Molly has been pressuring me to move into the burrow, how I haven't heard from Hogwarts regarding whether I've obtained the job of transfiguration mistress or not now that McGonagall is headmistress, how my parents are still angry with me for casting memory charms on them all those years ago, how Ginny has been wearing me down with tiny issues that I really couldn't care less about, and also how I'm positive that Severus would never return my affections.

By now, I'm wailing with despair. Weeks of stress have finally caught up with me and I honestly think it will be a while before I calm down. Despite her earlier threat of calming draughts, the older witch lets me cry, understanding that I need to release all of my pent up emotions. She cradles me to her tiny frame and whispers motherly nothings into my ear.

Hours later and many pots of tea, as well as a few trips to the bathroom, and my tears seem to have stopped for now. Alice, as she's told me to call her, hasn't left my side once, excluding bathroom breaks, and I'm very grateful for that. She tells me of her family, her children, grandchildren and great grandchild. She tells me stories of her late husband to.

"He was seventeen years older than me you know" she says.

"What?!" I whisper.

"Yes, seventeen years older" she continues. "My parents couldn't believe it, I'm muggleborn myself you know, but when they realised that I was happy, they eventually came around. It could have had something to do with the fact that I refused to speak to them for months however" she finishes in a thoughtful tone.

I can't believe my ears, Severus is fifteen years older than me, so it's similar in that regard. AND Alice is a muggleborn!

"I never knew that of you Alice" I say, slightly shocked.

She smiles. "Yes well, we muggleborns have to stick together" she says happily.

I smile in return. Most likely the first smile to be on my face in over a month.

"Thankyou Alice" I say genuinely.

"Anytime dear" she replies.

We sit in comfortable silence for a few minutes before we both feel a number of people attempting to break through the wards.

"I'll get it" Alice says cheerfully. "Yes, can I help you?" she asks the group at the door.

"We're looking for Hermione" I hear Ginny say.

"Obviously" drawls Alice, in such a perfect imitation of Severus that I hear a deep below of laughter.

Oh. My. In the name of Merlin. SEVERUS SNAPE IS OUTSIDE MY APARTMENT!

"Ah Professor Snape" Alice says cheerfully, as though she was greeting one of her son in laws. "Be a dear and wait a moment while I see if Hermione wants to talk to or see any of you. She's quite upset you know, been sobbing for hours she has" she adds quite casually.

I don't have to see their faces to know that they've got shocked expressions.

'Who would have thought that Hermione Granger, the bookworm, could be capable of crying for so long? 'I think to myself sarcastically.

"Want to see anyone out here dear?" Alice asks me.

"Who's there?" I ask, my voice scratchy and breaking from crying.

"Who's there?" she replies. "Well, we have Mr and Mrs Potter, Mr Snape, and pretty much the entire Weasley family." Then she gets a cheeky look on her face. "Remind me dear, has that Ronald boy confessed to his mother about his cheating on you, followed by you dumping him?" she asks sweetly.

I hear Mrs Weasley gasp. Oh Alice you are good.

"I doubt it" I say.

Alice pokes her head around the door and silently giggles. This makes me smile. It's hard to feel sad when you see Alice trying to stay silent.

"I do apologise" I hear Severus say. "But could you please ask Miss Granger if I may speak with her?"

Alice looks at me and I bite my lower lip and curl up in a ball again. However, I nod. Yes I'm that desperate to see him. Alice looks pleased and swings the door open so that everyone can see me. A few people have their mouths open in shock, so rude.

"Yes professor?" I ask scratchily.

He looks like, no. Could he really want to comfort me?

"May I?" he asks, gesturing into my apartment.

Again, I nod.

"Right then" says Alice and all eyes go to her. "Mr Snape, the tea is hot and there is a spare cup on the table. Don't make anything worse and just be honest when you talk to her. I don't want Hermione any more upset than she has already been. Everyone else, go away" she says in a very no nonsense tone. "Yes even you Mrs Potter, it's is mainly your fault that Hermione is upset so you will all be leaving. Only Hermione and Mr Snape will be in this apartment."

"You're going to?" I ask her.

"Yes sweetie, I must give my granddaughter a call, her son is ill, poor thing. Just give me a shout if you need me" she says with a smile as she pushes Severus into the apartment and pushes everyone else away from the door. "Oh and Mr Snape? Be a dear and ward the door. Thank you" she finishes before she shuts the door.

"You better ward the door, she won't leave the other side until you do" I say in a dull tone.

"Oh do shut up you snivelling little girl" I hear Alice sneer, most likely to Ginny. "I will repeat, go away."

On the other side of the door, we hear pops as they leave. Severus wards the door with several enchantments and we can hear Alice say "Lovely" before she returns to her own apartment.

"I don't think this building has ever seen so much excitement" I mutter under my breath.

Of course he hears me and gracefully sits beside me.

"Hermione" he says softly.

I turn my head on my knees and look at him, my eyes red and swollen, the tip of my nose pink and my cheeks blotchy.

He's looking at me with a soft, kind expression. "This is probably the worst possible thing to ask but are you okay?"

I give him a tiny smile. "With the exception of Alice, you're the first person to ask me that in weeks. The answer is no, I'm not okay."

"Anything I can do?" he asks sweetly.

"I don't know if you would be comfortable with it" I say, as I stare at my floor.

I feel his hand cup my cheek and gently lift my head so that I'm looking in his eyes again. "Try me."

My voice breaks and I hope he doesn't think I'm pathetic when I reply "hug me?"

He wastes no time in uncurling me from my little ball and embracing me in his robe covered arms. I clutch onto him, my hands fisting in the fabric that covers his chest. He doesn't even flinch when I press my face into the right side of his neck, over the now faint scares that he received from Nagini.

"Shhh, it'll be alright" he murmurs to me.

"How do you know?" I ask into his neck.

His arms tighten around me. "I saw your confrontation with the former female Weasley" he tells me.

"Huh? How? Unless…" I stiffen and gulp. "You got out on that floor as well?" I ask horrified.

"Yes" he replies. "I heard it all, I didn't realise that you cared so much about my feelings."

For what feels like the millionth time today, I start shaking and feel tears threatening to fall.

He feels me shake and squeezes me even tighter, to the point where it could prevent me from breathing soon.

"Hey" he says to me. "Hey, it's alright Hermione."

"HOW IN THE NAME OF MERLIN IS IT ALRIGHT?!" I exclaim.

The only response I receive is his lips on mine in the sweetest kiss I have ever received.

"That is how it's alright Hermione" he says when he pulls back.

I look up into his black eyes, hope shinning in mine. He strokes my hair and then my face. Taking this as confirmation, I wrap my arms around his neck and tangle my hands into is soft dark hair (not at all greasy) and press my lips to his.

He returns my kiss with vigour and the apartment is silent apart from our lips whispering against each other and our breathing getting steadily heavier. When the need for oxygen becomes apparent, we pull apart and rest our foreheads against each other.

"I love you too Hermione" he whispers.

"What?" I gasp.

He kisses my cheek. "I love you."

A smile spreads its way onto my face. "I love you Severus Snape."

"I love you too Hermione Granger."

He embraces me once again and we cuddle on my couch until there's a knock.

"Who on Earth?" asks Severus in bewilderment.

"Bet you a first edition copy of 'Potions: the hidden ingredients' that Alice is on the other side of that door" I say.

He chuckles "Bet you a first edition hard back copy of 'The History of Polyjuice' that the Weasley and Potter clans are also on the other side of that door."

I giggle and quickly kiss him before walking over to the door and open it.

"What's the verdict Hermione?" he asks me.

"We both win" I say with a smirk.

He chuckles and I turn back to the crowd at my door. "How's your great grandson Alice?"

"On the road to recovery, thank you dear" she replies with a smile.

"What do the rest of you want?" I ask as I feel Severus wrap an arm around my waist.

"Mione, why is Snape touching you?" Ginny asks, looking disgusted.

I move closer to Severus, and kiss him in front of everyone. When we pull apart, everyone except Alice and Harry have their mouths hanging open.

"Molly, Arthur, Ronald, Ginny, Charlie, Bill, Fleur, Luna, Neville, close you mouths, you all look like idiots" I drawl.

Severus sneers and Alice smirks. Harry looks like, surprisingly, he's happy.

"Harry?" I ask cautiously.

"It's about time Mione" he says. "You and Ron never would have worked, at least now you have someone who you can actually talk to and who will stay faithful." He sends a glare Ron's way as he finishes his sentence.

"Thank you Mr Potter" Severus says. I simply smile at my friend.

"Harry, are you mad?" Ron and Ginny stutter.

"No you two need a reality check. Molly puts the pair of you on a pedestal and because of that, it's becoming increasingly difficult to be around you two" he replies.

"But Mione, no one will invite you to all the popular parties, and no Hogwarts doesn't count" she argues.

I scoff. "I don't care, they can have their fancy stuff, I have all I need right here" I say as I hug Severus to me and look at Alice and Harry.

"Good job you two" Alice says to us. "I hope you're planning on staying around Severus?" she asks with her trade mark eyebrow raise.

Severus mirrors her expression before looking down at me.

"Obviously" he drawls with a little smile.

_The End_


End file.
